Making the Bible Belt: Texas Prohibitionists and the Politicization of Southern Religion
- ISBN-10
- 0190216298
- ISBN-13
- 9780190216290
- Category
- History
- Pages
- 336
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2017-06-01
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Author
- Joseph L. Locke
Description
Making the Bible Belt upends notions of a longstanding, stable marriage between political religion and the American South. H.L. Mencken coined the term "the Bible Belt" in the 1920s to capture the peculiar alliance of religion and public life in the South, but the reality he described was only the closing chapter of a long historical process. Into the twentieth century, a robust anticlerical tradition still challenged religious forays into southern politics. Inside southern churches, an insular evangelical theology looked suspiciously on political meddling. Outside of the churches, a popular anticlericalism indicted activist ministers with breaching the boundaries of their proper spheres of influence, calling up historical memories of the Dark Ages and Puritan witch hunts. Through the politics of prohibition, and in the face of bitter resistance, a complex but shared commitment to expanding the power and scope of religion transformed southern evangelicals' inward-looking restraints into an aggressive, self-assertive, and unapologetic political activism. The decades-long religious crusade to close saloons and outlaw alcohol in the South absorbed the energies of southern churches and thrust religious leaders headlong into the political process--even as their forays into southern politics were challenged at every step. Early defeats impelled prohibitionist clergy to recast their campaign as a broader effort not merely to dry up the South, but to conquer anticlerical opposition and inject religion into public life. Clerical activists churned notions of history, race, gender, and religion into a powerful political movement and elevated ambitious leaders such as the pugnacious fundamentalist J. Frank Norris and Senator Morris Sheppard, the "Father of National Prohibition." Exploring the controversies surrounding the religious support of prohibition in Texas, Making the Bible Belt reconstructs the purposeful, decades-long campaign to politicize southern religion, hints at the historical origins of the religious right, and explores a compelling and transformative moment in American history.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2017-06-01
- 336 pages
- Ebook
- Oxford University Press
-
- 2017
- 283 pages
- Paperback
- Oxford University Press
Similar books
-
From Bible Belt to Sunbelt: Plain-Folk Religion, Grassroots Politics, and the Rise of Evangelical Conservatism
By Darren DochukHoSang, “Remaking Liberalism in the Sunbelt West”; “Churches Say 'No' on 14,” Orange County Committee Against Prop ... Goldberg, Barry Goldwater, 208, 229, quoted in Donaldson, Liberalism's Last Hurrah, 255, 257; clip from valley News, ...
-
Southern Cross: The Beginnings of the Bible Belt
By Christine Leigh HeyrmanThis family correspondence can be traced in numerous letters of Frances Goodwin, Isabel, Mary, and Mildred Owen to Dr. John Owen and Mary Owen; John Owen, Sr., to Dr. John Owen, 22 December 1808; Elizabeth Anderson to Dr. John Owen, ...
-
Does This Bible Belt Make Me Look Gay?
By Krista DoyleIt's a brief, honest, and clever memoir penned in the hopes that the author's story might provide comfort and insight to those suffering through similar situations-to those wondering if God had just made them "incorrectly," as Krista once ...
-
Pray the Gay Away: The Extraordinary Lives of Bible Belt Gays
By Bernadette BartonDrawing on the remarkable stories of Bible Belt gays, Barton brings to the fore their thoughts, experiences and hard-won insights to explore the front lines of our national culture war over marriage, family, hate crimes, and equal rights.
-
Bullied in the Bible Belt
By Gene SkipworthRev. Skipworth's courage, candor, and compassion jump from the pages of this compilation of his weekly newspaper columns, "Letters to the Editor," rebuttals from area ministers, and responses from readers written in the heart of Tennessee's ...
-
Bible Belt Queers
By Darci McFarlandBible Belt Queers was created to empower LGBTQIA folx from the South to share their experiences surrounding growing up queer in the Bible Belt.
-
The Bible Made Impossible: Why Biblicism Is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture
By Christian SmithSomewhat similarly, Keith Ward points to instances of sublation¡ in scripture (the etymology of which is Latin, sublatus, the past participle of tollere, to take away, lift up; from sub- up + latus, past participle of ferre, to carry), ...
-
My Jesus Year: A Rabbi's Son Wanders the Bible Belt in Search of His Own Faith
By Benyamin Cohen" So begins Benyamin Cohen's hilarious journey that is My Jesus Year—part memoir, part spiritual quest, and part anthropologist's mission.
-
Rough Country
By Robert Wuthnow25 A year later, as temperatures rose above a hundred degrees, cholera again raged along the Brazos.26 Historians Robert W. Fogel and Stanley L. Engerman compiled data on 10,000 deaths that occurred in seven southern states in 1850, ...
-
The Unsaved Christian: Reaching Cultural Christianity with the Gospel
By Dean InserraThis practical guide will: show you how to recognize cultural Christianity teach you how to overcome the barriers that get in the way give you easy-to-understand advice about VBS, holiday services, reaching “good people,” and more!